Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie
| producer = Jonathan Tzachor | writer = | based on = Gekisou Sentai Carranger By Toei Company | starring = | narrator = | music = Michael Kamen | cinematography = Ilan Rosenberg | editing = | production companies = }} | distributor = 20th Century Fox | released = | runtime = 99 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = $9.6 million }}Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie is a 1997 American superhero film directed by David Winning and Shuki Levy and written by Levy and Shell Danielson. A sequel to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995), it is the second Power Rangers film and was produced by Saban Entertainment and Toei Company, Ltd., and was distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film stars Johnny Yong Bosch, Nakia Burrise, Steve Cardenas, Jason David Frank, Austin St. John, Catherine Sutherland, Jason Narvy, Paul Schrier, Hilary Shepard Turner, Amy Jo Johnson, Blake Foster, Pete Postlethwaite, Christopher Plummer, Martin Sheen, Natasha Richardson and Wayne Knight. The film takes place after the events of the Power Rangers Zeo television season (1996), with the new cast and characters from the film becoming cast members of both Zeo and its successor, Power Rangers Turbo (1997), with the film's events leading into the successor series. As with its television season, the film used concepts and costumes from the Japanese Super Sentai series Gekisou Sentai Carranger (1996). Sets and costumes created for original characters in the film were later used in the television series, with the film's climactic antagonist Maligore being reused for the evil Dark Specter in the subsequent Power Rangers in Space season. The film was released on March 28, 1997 to generally unfavorable reviews. It was criticized for its visual effects and campiness, but critics praised the performance of its cast. Plot On a distant planet, a wizard named Lerigot is being hunted by Divatox; an intergalactic space pirate, who seeks his golden key to traverse an inter-dimensional gateway and enter into matrimony with Maligore, a demon who promises to grant her great riches and power. Lerigot escapes Divatox's forces and travels to Earth in search of Zordon and his friend Alpha 5, but instead arrives in Africa. Weakened by the sun's ultraviolet rays, Lerigot meets a pack of chimpanzees and wanders off with them. Meanwhile, Divatox sets off for Earth in pursuit. In Angel Grove, two years after the previous movie, Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park, and Tommy Oliver are training for a charity fighting competition to save the Youth Shelter, when Rocky accidentally injures his back. Katherine Hillard and Tanya Sloan arrive with Justin Stewart, a kid who admires Rocky and frequents the shelter. As Rocky is rushed to the hospital, Justin follows the group and learns that they are Power Rangers. Zordon sends Tommy and Kat to search for Lerigot. They manage to find him and return to the Power Chamber. Divatox's nephew Elgar, searches for two human sacrifices to revive Maligore. He abducts Farkus "Bulk" Bulkmeier and Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch, but Divatox rejects them for not being pure of heart. Divatox finds Kimberly Hart and Jason Lee Scott, who are scuba diving nearby, and captures them. While recovering, Lerigot is contacted by Divatox, who has captured his family and demands he surrender himself. Divatox also uses Kimberly and Jason to pressure the Rangers. At the exchange site, Elgar tricks the Rangers and captures Lerigot. Zordon and Alpha create new powers for the Rangers to defeat Divatox. With the new Turbo powers and their new vehicular Zords, the Rangers drive across the desert to a ship called the Ghost Galleon. They are joined by Justin, who has received Rocky's Blue Ranger powers while Rocky is still recovering in the hospital. On Divatox's submarine, Jason and Kim come up with a plan to escape. Bulk, Skull, and Kimberly escape the sub, but Jason is trapped and left behind. After Divatox and the Rangers traverse the gateway and reach the island where Maligore is, Divatox torpedoes the Ghost Galleon and the Rangers narrowly escape. Kimberly is recaptured and taken to Divatox by the tribal natives of the island who worship Maligore. At the temple in the volcano, the Rangers fail to free Jason and Kimberly before they are possessed by Maligore and attack the Rangers mercilessly. The Rangers free Lerigot and his wife Yara, who undo the possession. Angered, Divatox sacrifices her nephew and successfully revives Maligore. The Rangers summon their Turbo Megazord to fight Maligore. They defeat him as Divatox and Rygog flee, vowing vengeance. The Rangers pick up Jason, Kimberly, Lerigot, Yara, Bulk and Skull and return to Angel Grove. At the competition, Jason takes Rocky's place, and they win the fight, earning the money to save the shelter. Cast * Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park / Green Turbo Ranger, a martial artist from Stone Canyon. * Nakia Burrise as Tanya Sloan / Yellow Turbo Ranger, an orphaned girl from Africa. * Jason David Frank as Thomas "Tommy" Oliver / Red Turbo Ranger, the leader of the Power Rangers. * Catherine Sutherland as Katherine "Kat" Hillard / Pink Turbo Ranger, an Australian teenager. * Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott, the first Red Power Ranger and Gold Zeo Ranger. * Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Hart, the first Pink Ranger and Tommy's former love interest. * Steve Cardenas as Rocky DeSantos, a martial artist and formerly the Blue Zeo Ranger. * Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch, a police officer working at Angel Grove. * Paul Schrier as Farkus "Bulk" Bulkmeier, a police officer working at Angel Grove. * Blake Foster as Justin Stewart / Blue Turbo Ranger, a child in the care of Tanya and Katherine at an Angel Grove children's group. * Hilary Shepard Turner as Divatox, a space pirate who seeks to marry the demon Maligore and conquer the galaxy. Additionally, Pete Postlethwaite plays Lt. Jerome Stone, Bulk and Skull's superior at the police force; Richard Genelle reprises his role as Ernie, the Angel Grove Gym and Juice Bar's owner; Winston Richard plays Zordon, an inter-dimensional being and the Rangers' mentor, with Christopher Plummer voicing the character; and Donene Kistler plays Alpha 5, a robot from Edenoi and Zordon's assistant, with Richard Wood voicing Alpha 5. Jon Simanton portrays Lerigot, a wizard who holds a magical key that can open portals to worlds and realms, while Martin Sheen provided the voice for the character. John Goodman voices Rygog, one of Divatox's henchmen. Natasha Richardson and Aria Noelle Curzon voices Yara and Bethel, Lerigot's respective wife and daughter. Danny Wayne Stallcup physically portrays Elgar, Divatox's dimwitted nephew, while Wayne Knight provides his voice. Mike Deak portrays Maligore, Divatox's fiancé, with Gary Hecker and Frank Welker both providing the special vocal effects. Carla Perez reprises her role as Rita Repulsa, a sorceress who has fought the Power Rangers in the past, with Helena Bonham Carter providing her voice. Production As opposed to the CGI Megazord used in the first Power Rangers film, this sequel utilizes the actual costume of the Turbo Megazord, appearing in American footage (the main series would rely on the Carranger footage). According to a 2013 post on Johnny Yong Bosch's Facebook page, the original script called for a lengthy underwater battle using the Zeo Ranger powers, wherein the Power Rangers emerge with tattered costumes. The unused plot would also explained how the Turbo powers were created. It was also originally scripted that Billy Cranston (the original Blue Ranger) had created the Turbo powers with Zordon and Alpha 5. While this plot element was ultimately dropped from the theatrical release, the concept of torn outfits would be used for the Turbo season finale. Also, whereas Hilary Shepard Turner appears as Divatox in the film, by the time filming began for the TV series, she had taken maternity leave, thus being replaced by Carol Hoyt. In the 26th episode "The Darkest Day" seven episodes after the four Veteran Rangers resign and transfer their powers to a new team (filmed after a hiatus of several months), Shepard resumed the role of Divatox, continuing through Power Rangers in Space (1998). Release Box office Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie opened theatrically on March 28, 1997 in 2,113 venues. It earned $3.3 million in its opening weekend, ranking number 7 in the domestic box office. At the end of its run, the film had grossed $8.4 million in North America and $1.3 million overseas for a worldwide total of $9.6 million. Critical reception On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 15% approval rating based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 35 out of 100, which indicates "generally unfavorable reviews", based on 9 reviews. Joe Leydon of Variety gave a negative review of the film, criticizing the "high-camp cheesiness" while praising the acting of both Hilary Shepard Turner and Amy Jo Johnson. Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times criticized the film's storyline and dialogue while he praised the visual effects and production values. Conversely, Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times gave a positive review, saying the filmmakers have brought "much panache and sophistication to the making of this fantasy adventure extolling the good old-fashioned virtues of spirit and courage embodied by the Power Rangers" and that "Turbo is a solid follow-up." He also praised Turner's acting and the visual effects. Soundtrack Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the licensed soundtrack to the film. It was released by Mercury Records on March 18, 1997 on Audio CD and Compact Cassette. Album information The album serves a dual purpose, as it not only used much of the music heard in the movie, but also contained several tracks from Power Rangers: Zeo. Track listing #Fulflej - Shift Into Turbo #Sting and Michael Kamen - Power Rangers Turbo, Go! (Main Theme) #Steven Tyler, Eric Clapton and The Mighty Raw - Hope For The World #Ellen ten Damme - Turbo Time #Stevie Wonder - Invincible #Bryan Adams, Eric Clatpton and Michael Kamen - Unite! #Elton John and Eric Clapton - Let's Rock 'N Roll #OO-spies - Freewheelin' #Super Power - Big Bang #Peabo Bryson and Devo - Power Rangers Zeo/Go Go Power Rangers (Main Theme) #Super Power - Go Gold Ranger #Jim Cummings and Rick Logan - Enemies Beware #Babyface, Melissa Manchester and L.A. Reid - Here Comes The Power Again #Michael Bolton and Barbra Streisand - Calling For A Hero Awards and nominations Home media The film was released on July 8, 1997 on VHS and LaserDisc. The film (as well as 1995's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie) was then released on a two-sided DVD disc on March 13, 2001, and then re-released (just this film) on a single-sided disc in 2003. This film was re-released with different packaging in 2011. The film was then re-released in March 2017 in a bundled set with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (this time as two single-sided DVD discs) to coincide with the film Power Rangers. In 2019, it was announced that Shout! Factory had acquired the rights to re-release the movie and confirmed that Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie would be released for the first time on Blu-ray, where it would be released standalone on July 30, 2019. See also * List of American films of 1997 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie * Power Rangers (film) References External links * * * * Category:Power Rangers films Category:Power Rangers Turbo Category:1997 films Category:American films Category:English-language films Category:1990s science fiction action films Category:1990s fantasy adventure films Category:1990s science fiction adventure films Category:1990s superhero films Category:20th Century Fox films Category:American children's adventure films Category:American children's fantasy films Category:American science fiction action films Category:1990s children's fantasy films Category:Films based on television series Category:Films directed by David Winning Category:Films shot in California Category:Films shot in Florida Category:Films shot in Hawaii Category:Films shot in Tennessee Category:1997 martial arts films Category:Martial arts science fiction films Category:Sequel films Category:Saban Entertainment films Category:American superhero films Category:Teen superhero films Category:Mecha films Category:Superhero films featuring female antagonists Category:Film scores by Michael Kamen Category:Film scores by Eric Clapton Category:Film scores by Kenneth Burgomaster Category:Film scores by Gavin Greenaway Category:Film scores by John Van Tongeren Category:Film scores by Edward Shearmur Category:Soundtracks produced by Michael Kamen Category:Michael Kamen albums Category:Film scores by Jonathan Sheffer